At 72 and after 53 years on the road, Allan Caswell is starting to look at how he will end it. Caswell is Australia’s most recorded songwriter and one of its very best story tellers. The tour will start at the Tamworth Services Club on Australia Day with his friend Dane Sharp and go until he has been back to all the places he has enjoyed playing over the years. Considering he has played nearly every town in NSW, every state in Australia, NZ, the USA, East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan and most of the big country and folk festivals around the country … it might take a while. Best known for his iconic worldwide hit On The Inside (the theme from Prisoner) in 1979, he has won 8 Golden Guitars from 48 nominations, ARIA and APRA Awards, gold and platinum records and lots of other Music Industry Awards. Having been elevated to the Australian Country Music Roll of Renown in Tamworth this year, Caswell has very little left to prove.

Songwriting with, and mentoring of young artists has become a huge part of his career in recent years and will continue for years to come but getting his songs out in front of an audience has always been the thing that drives him.

I am unlikely to go back to Iraq or Afghanistan but everywhere else is a possibility. I already have shows planned with friends like Lindsay Waddington, Pixie, Dane Sharp and Matt Scullion and will be taking “Used To Be A Gold Song … The Allan Caswell Tribute Show starring Allan Caswell as himself” around the country. I am not retiring … I am still writing way too many songs and making too many records … and besides I can’t retire … my golf game is terrible. Touring is challenging these days … the CD sales, that once paid for diesel and accommodation, are all but gone. That said, I will be hitting the road in short bursts so I can still keep my songwriting and workshops going. Getting In front of an audience with my songs and stories is a huge part of my life … songwriting? … that goes forever.